Tagged Questions

Editing is the act of improving a piece of writing. Questions with this tag should focus on specific editing techniques or ways to improve editing skills. If you are submitting a piece for critique, use the "critique" tag instead.

I am searching for a more sophisticated phrase that would express a specific connection between items mentioned in my paper. I wish to explain that the connection is not like a vertical line but more ...

When writing, scenes come to my mind in different languages mixed together.
For example in a single scene a description will be in French, some dialogues in English, with a few words of Spanish and ...

It is my first time writing tech manuals and I don't know what to use. Some people recommend me LATEX but I think it's too complex.
I basically need a text editor that let me:
Type latin characters ...

I originally started planning/writing a short story that was more or less based on a few popular trends in YA/Sci-Fi writing (interstellar travel, superpowers, etc) just as an exercise to force myself ...

I am not a native English speaker and hired an editor to correct the style of a book that is being published. However, this editor didn't work in the final version of the manuscript I sent but rather ...

My book editor says that we need to professionally reflow the text with Adobe InDesign software (not just in a word processor). She asks $350 for the job, which seems like too much money.
Do I assume ...

Disclaimer: English isn't my native language and I haven't studied writing or poetry at all.
I released my first poetry book called "Bella Poesía / Beatiful Poetry" in February last year, and until ...

I have a question regarding comma splices. I'm trying to learn more about comma splices and how to remove them from some work I am doing. I understand the basics regarding them but I have a question ...

So I'm writing a new edition of an old textbook, and I need some way of keeping track of what needs to be done, and what I have done.
I could use paper - but I tend to lose that. Or even a plain text ...

I'm familiar with word clouds (or tag clouds) as used on blogs or on sites like Delicious. It seems to me that a tool similar to that could be of use to writers like me, who don't have an editor, when ...

My team uses MadCap Flare for documentation and we have an editor on the team. When a writer is ready, we assemble a review package in Flare and send it to the editor, and she makes changes and sends ...

I just finished a new release.
I encountered a passage in the book that doesn't quite make sense.
Just a single sentence that is out of place.
Grammatically it is fine, but in context it doesn't seem ...

I have 7 publishing houses currently evaluating my manuscript for possible publication. Some houses have already read a few chapters and have requested the entire manuscript, others are basing their ...

Since the book I am working on will be published in two different countries, it has two ISBN. The tricky question here is this: must both the ISBN barcode be placed onto the back cover of the book? ...

Has it happened to you that "you're in love" with an idea of yours? Like a core idea that you won't let go no matter what?
I heard that people usually write, check and recheck the story they write, ...

I regularly write texts in LaTeX. Its book class places page numbers on pages of normal text but not on chapter-starting pages. Some books use roman letters in the beginning, and I was criticised by ...

I know the best way is to hire an editor. And I know you become aware of them over time.
I just want to know if there are any tips or techniques to spot/correct them?
For example these are my common ...

I've been reading a few questions on this site, and I've seen the terms First, Second or Third Drafts. What does this refer to actually? And could someone give a clear detail of what they are, and why ...

At first I blamed coffee (I thought caffeine had a chemical which blocked "editing" skills). But then I realized it happens to me from time to time regardless of what I drink or in which mood I am.
...

I'm a fan of minimalism so I tend to write stories which are as simple as possible. And sometimes I add elements that don't have a concrete explanation. I leave that to interpretation of the reader.
...

I have a short story named Cured (which asks the question "What if you could take a pill to increase your empathy?"), in which the main character (Tony) doesn't talk or show much about himself until ...

Are there any known variables to measure, or questions to ask in survey, in order to asses the persuasiveness of a paper?
For example, I'm not sure if omitting a section from my paper might actually ...